About the job

Job summary

The Electoral Integrity Programme in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is a Tier A Government Major Programme in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s Government Major Projects Programme Portfolio. During the lifetime of this Parliament, we will implement the key Government manifesto and ministerial commitments framed by the Elections Act 2022. The Act requires a substantial programme of change to the way in which elections work in the UK.

The commitments include:
•    the introduction of voter identification at polling stations in Great Britain;
•    the removal of the 15-year limit on overseas electors’ voting rights and making it easier for British expatriates to vote in UK Parliamentary elections;
•    improving the security and integrity of elections (including on digital imprints, political finance and intimidation);
•    ensuring reciprocal voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens;
•    making changes to processes for proxy and postal voting;
•    improving accessibility of voting in polling stations for disabled voters; and
•    Electoral Commission reform.

The Electoral Integrity Programme will deliver this transformational work, giving effect to the Elections Act and a substantial volume of secondary legislation. The Programme has a substantial digital transformation element and continues to develop and deliver new policy and processes to support the successful delivery of the Government’s vision.

This is an exciting time to join our dynamic and growing Programme team and make your contribution to the most significant set of changes to electoral law by the UK Government in many years. This high profile and ambitious programme of work continues to draw significant attention within Parliament, across the media and from a wide variety of commentators interested in how our democracy works.

We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work. 

Job description

The Programme works with a range of stakeholders including local government elections teams, the Electoral Commission, ministers, parliamentarians, the devolved administrations, civil society organisations and other government departments. The Business Change Team within the Programme is responsible for ensuring the readiness of the electoral sector to absorb and deliver the changes. 

We are now looking for a talented communicator to lead on communications to our key stakeholders in order to support design and delivery of the change programme for the next tranche of measures in the EIP, due for delivery over the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. You will work with internal teams to develop and deliver a communications and engagement strategy, and plan and oversee the production of communications for key stakeholders, ensuring a consistent narrative across all external facing messaging. You will handle a high volume of complexity and detail and will be comfortable working to senior officials, often within exact deadlines. This role involves simultaneous engagement on a range of outputs, requiring you to be adept at managing different priorities and keeping up to date across a number of workstreams.

This role will sit within the Business Change Communications and Engagement team and will work closely with a number of disciplines within the division, including the Implementation Readiness and Operations teams, and digital and policy teams. It will involve line management of at least one SEO. This will be a stretching role requiring excellent written and verbal communication skills, excellent stakeholder management skills, and good understanding of a wide range of policy areas. 
 
Key responsibilities 

•    Plan and produce high quality communications materials, tailored to the needs and priorities of the intended audience while ensuring a consistent narrative across all stakeholder groups;
•    Work closely with the Programme’s Engagement and Implementation Teams and Programme Management Office to plan and manage communications to ensure local authorities are provided with timely information and support in order for them to deliver reforms;
•    Oversee the production of briefing and communications materials for ministers and senior officials to facilitate productive stakeholder engagement and effective Parliamentary handling;
•    Work closely with press and central communications colleagues to ensure appropriate, consistent and timely media and public messaging.

Person specification

Essential:
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience of translating complex messages into quality written products for a range of audiences, and the ability to write succinct, clear advice and briefings.
•    Experience of stakeholder management and/or strategic communications, including planning communications from development through to delivery.
•    Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills and the ability to build trusting and productive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
•    The ability to work under pressure to urgent or shifting deadlines, including the ability to work flexibly on quickly changing or multiple priorities and strong organisation skills.
•    Confidence to provide both written and verbal briefings to senior colleagues and external stakeholders and to give communications advice.

Desirable: 
•    Confidence in representing our organisation’s interests and the ability to understand potential sensitivities and wider political dimensions of key issues connected to the Programme.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £51,934, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities contributes £14,022 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

We are for everyone 

 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

  

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.  

 

We are for everyone 

 

DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.  

 

Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).  

 

At application stage you will be asked to upload a CV document. Unless stated otherwise in the advert, your CV will not form part of the assessment but will be used for information purposes and only shared with the panel at interview stage. 

 

Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates’ responses to ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ rather than seeing a candidate’s full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.  

 

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors. 

 

When writing your application, remember: 

• The assessor won’t be reading your answers sequentially.  
• Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.  
• If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!) 

 

 

At sift, we will be assessing 

Experience (lead criteria) - How does your experience make you suitable for this role?

  

Behaviour 1 - Seeing the big picture 

 

Behaviour 2 - Communicating and Influencing 

 

Behaviour 3 - Delivering at Pace 

 

There is a 250 word limit per question. 

 

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview  

 

 

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:    

Behaviour – Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing   

Experience 

Strength 

The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

 

In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

 

Behaviours: (Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Seeing the big picture, Delivering at Pace)  

Experience:  (Yes) 

Strengths: (Yes) 

 

We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign. 

Grade 7 salary 

• The salary for this role is £51,934 (National). 
• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges. 

 
Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.   

BENEFITS: 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 
Any move to DLUHC from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

  

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: 

• Wolverhampton 
• Leeds
• Birmingham
• Darlington* 

 

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service.  

For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack. 

SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES: 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 25/12/23 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

Reserve List 
 
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details n a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.